Chamber hosts Direct Seller Showcase

Amelia Guigou of Thirty One Gifts (left) discusses her product line with a Direct Seller Showcase shopper.

Ron Nunnari / AIM Media Midwest

Pictured left to right are Northmont Area Chamber of Commerce Board Members Lisa Nussman, Steve Henna and Chamber CEO Cathy Hutton.

Ron Nunnari / AIM Media Midwest

ENGLEWOOD — The first ever Direct Seller Showcase was held Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Kleptz Early Learning Center on National Road. Admission was free.

Hosted by the Northmont Area Chamber of Commerce the event drew a steady stream of people throughout the four hour event, which enabled area vendors to showcase the products they sell from their home-based business ventures.

“We are excited because we have 25 direct selling vendors here today. They all represent another direct selling company,” Lisa Nussman, chamber board member said. “This is our first event and hopefully it will become an annual event.”

Nussman herself is a direct seller for Mary Kay, a venture she has pursued for the last 30 years. She helped organize the event along with Chamber CEO Cathy Hutton and fellow Board Member Steve Henne.

“The Northmont Area Chamber of Commerce wanted to provide a venue for people in the community who run a home-based business,” Nussman said. “They don’t have a storefront, so they run everything out of their homes and the chamber thought it would be great to give them an opportunity to give them some exposure and make it a community event.”

Vendors participating came from throughout the Miami Valley area. Only one vendor representing each company could participate to keep it fair.

The event featured a raffle. All of the vendors were asked to donate one item from their product line valued at $25 or more. Community members visiting the showcase purchased raffle tickets. Attendees could pick which vendor they wanted to win a prize from and entered their ticket into a drawing for that particular vendor.

“We are hoping that this is an event that vendors and community members will want to come back to year after year and we hope that it will grow and become bigger,” Nussman added. “We wanted to give the Northmont Community an opportunity to see some of the business people that are members of their community that they might not be aware of.”

Participating vendors and their representatives included:

AdvoCare – Kristen Clark

Avon – Renee Baker

Chic Happens – Rachel Brannon

Color Street – Hayley Steck

Mary Kay – Lisa Nussman

Matilda Jane Clothing – Denee Kochersperger

Monet – Kelsey Fakes

Norwex – Kelli Evans

Origami Owl – Cathy Gough

Pampered Chef – Connie Yorgen

Partylite Candles – Ann Zwiesler

Pink Zebra – Nikki Barnhart

Premier Designs Jewelry – Melissa Roberts

Pure Haven Essentials – Kristi Gaston

Rodan & Fields – Amy Anderson

Scentsy – Kimberly Grimm

SeneGence (Lip Sense) – Jourdan Shanks

Tastefully Simple – Brooke Copley

Thirty One Gifts – Amelia Guigou

Tracilynn Jewelry – Davida Prater

TruAura Beauty – Linda Bryson

Tupperware – Jaimee Herr

Uppercase Living – Nanette Cline

Usborne Books & More – Kendra & Nick Orrill

Young Living – Kaitlyn Craig

Amelia Guigou of Thirty One Gifts (left) discusses her product line with a Direct Seller Showcase shopper.